Wait a minute... where am I??

So I just had a fairly intense realization that I am not, as it turns out, in my own familiar country.

Let me set up the scene:

Russell and I needed to pay our rent. As it turns out, we got our rent bill a few weeks ago, but we failed to realize what it was because of the way it was packaged. Normally we can tell that we have a bill because there is a barcode that gets scanned when we pay, and many circles where official stamps go. The rent bill, however, was all folded up and the folds were completely glued to each other so it wasn't obvious that it unfolded at all. We called the rental company and asked them if we needed to pay, and they said that the rent would be direct deposited or, if the direct deposit wasn't set up yet, we would get a paper bill that we could pay at a local convenience store...

That's right, folks, you can do EVERYTHING at a convenience store here. Pay bills, pick up deliveries, make photocopies, use the ATM... all sorts of stuff. They are, funny enough, very convenient.

But back to the story. Eventually we got another unidentifiable piece of mail that looked like the other unidentified piece of mail we had received and we put two and two together. After a great deal of poking and prodding, we figured out how to unglue the pages and sure enough, on the inside there was the rent amount, barcode, and many little circles awaiting stamps.

Good. So now we could pay.

Here is where things got surreal.

Russell told me that we needed to pay the bill tonight, because the rental place was going to call him tomorrow. Russell was tired, and had just cooked a lovely dinner for me, so I said I would go pay the rent.

I set off.

At 9:30 at night.

To pay my rent.

Which I had to pay in CASH.

I can only imagine myself in this set of circumstances back at home if I were a drug dealer.

The exchange at the convenience store was pretty funny too. I couldn't understand a word the clerk said - really not a word. Here is what I imagine his side of the conversation to have been:

"Welcome to our store"
"Hello, can I pay this with a card?"
"With a card?"
"Yes" (Indicating how much the bill is for) "Is it okay?"
"No, I'm sorry, we can't accept cards here, we can only accept cash."
"Oh, okay" (already expecting this answer, but wanting to make sure)
- pause to get $800 from the nearest ATM and to choose some chocolate.
"Do you want to pay for everything together?"
(me: totally not understanding him, I motion for "separately" because that is what the Lawson clerk always insists on)
"Oh, you want it separate?"
"Yes, please"

I paid for my rent, and then went to pay for the chocolate, but realized I had left my coin purse at home. I therefore had to hand him back the money he had just given me to pay for my rent. Doh. He must have really wondered what was wrong with me.

In any case, I managed to pay rent AND get chocolate.

My favorite part of this story, however, happened when I got home. I had a pay stub from the rental bill and the clerk had stuck a $2 stamp to it. I mentioned this to Russell and he said, "oh yeah, its probably a revenue stamp." Huh? As near as he could tell, this was like a tax that you pay and you get a stamp to show you paid it. Apparently, Russell ran into revenue stamps when he went to get his re-entry permit. You see, on arrival in Japan, we had to register with the city and get alien cards as identification. Once we had alien cards, we could apply for a re-entry permit so we could come and go from Japan at will while we are working here. I still haven't done this, but Russell went and got his re-entry permit set up while I was at work. As part of that process, the government official told him he needed $65 worth of revenue stamps for the application. Russell went to the local convenience store and asked for $65 of revenue stamps. The clerk gave him all $2 stamps. Russell didn't know to ask for larger amounts, so he just took the 15-odd stamps and returned to the government office. The guy helping him thought this was hilarious. He gave Russell a glue stick and a little card and told him to stick all the stamps to the card. Russell was a little sheepish. In fact, he hadn't ever told me that part of the story - not until he saw the $2 revenue stamp again.

So it was an eventful evening.